Democrats within the Chinese Communist Party and China's Democratic Future: The Case of Li Shenzhi. A major nuclear power with ambitions for regional predominance, China is home to one fifth of the world's population, the world's fastest-growing economy since the 1980s, one of the few surviving communist regimes, and Australia's third-largest trading partner. Whether China will democratise is central to international peace and stability and to any assessment of the future of world politics and i ....Democrats within the Chinese Communist Party and China's Democratic Future: The Case of Li Shenzhi. A major nuclear power with ambitions for regional predominance, China is home to one fifth of the world's population, the world's fastest-growing economy since the 1980s, one of the few surviving communist regimes, and Australia's third-largest trading partner. Whether China will democratise is central to international peace and stability and to any assessment of the future of world politics and international order. The project will make conceptual and empirical advances in the study of intellectual life and political trends in China and help Australian government and public bodies achieve a greater understanding of the political process in that country.Read moreRead less
Party-state, Liberalism and Social Democracy: the debate on China's future. The Chinese communist party-state is in transition. The possibilities range from liberal democracy, through social democracy to new forms of authoritarianism. One key to the future of China lies in the reflections of intellectuals and members of the ruling elite on this transition. This project examines the current debates in China on its destiny, in particular that between ?liberals? and the ?new left?. In addition to h ....Party-state, Liberalism and Social Democracy: the debate on China's future. The Chinese communist party-state is in transition. The possibilities range from liberal democracy, through social democracy to new forms of authoritarianism. One key to the future of China lies in the reflections of intellectuals and members of the ruling elite on this transition. This project examines the current debates in China on its destiny, in particular that between ?liberals? and the ?new left?. In addition to highlighting the process and possible future of intellectual and political development in China, the project also contributes to the wider discussion of change in transitional post-communist societies more generally.Read moreRead less
The human, human rights and the image. Today, human rights come a poor second to the security of society, with the human now largely defined in terms of its purely biological existence. Through case studies and theoretical innovation, this project seeks to counter this by showing that the human always has a transcendent quality, one highlighted by humanity's relation to the image.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100060
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$394,245.00
Summary
Childhood maltreatment and late modernity: public inquiries, social justice and education. This project is an historical sociological study, which examines the unfolding Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse alongside past Inquiries into child maltreatment. It explores how changing understandings of children's development, vulnerability and rights have shaped social policy, educational responses and public attitudes towards safeguarding children and promoting their ....Childhood maltreatment and late modernity: public inquiries, social justice and education. This project is an historical sociological study, which examines the unfolding Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse alongside past Inquiries into child maltreatment. It explores how changing understandings of children's development, vulnerability and rights have shaped social policy, educational responses and public attitudes towards safeguarding children and promoting their wellbeing. In particular, it investigates how concepts of childhood and policy approaches are changing as a result of social imperatives for openness and disclosure about matters once considered taboo. This project will advance conceptual policy insights on this major social issue and sociological knowledge of childhood and the forms and effects of late modernity.Read moreRead less
Living With Uncertainty: Creating the Postmodern Self in Contemporary Australia. Life in postmodernity is marked by rapid change and uncertainty. Increasingly, as tradition is worn away, individuals must create new scripts to give life meaning and structure. Through a case study of gays and lesbians, this project will investigate how a group of Australians are creating postmodern selves. Drawing on in-depth interviews, it traces the relationship between discursive and psychological accounts of t ....Living With Uncertainty: Creating the Postmodern Self in Contemporary Australia. Life in postmodernity is marked by rapid change and uncertainty. Increasingly, as tradition is worn away, individuals must create new scripts to give life meaning and structure. Through a case study of gays and lesbians, this project will investigate how a group of Australians are creating postmodern selves. Drawing on in-depth interviews, it traces the relationship between discursive and psychological accounts of the postmodern self and their political effects. With a particular interest in emotional life, this study will provide critical information on how individuals and communities can manage creatively the uncertain conditions of postmodernity.Read moreRead less
Mapping Justice Globalism: Reassessing the Ideological Landscape of the Twenty-First Century. "Mapping Justice Globalism" offers the first comprehensive analysis of the ideological claims of the global justice movement. The project assesses problem-solving approaches and policy platforms of civil society groups within the global justice movement and implications for Australian policy development and practice. The project offers alternative strategies to anticipate and address problems of globali ....Mapping Justice Globalism: Reassessing the Ideological Landscape of the Twenty-First Century. "Mapping Justice Globalism" offers the first comprehensive analysis of the ideological claims of the global justice movement. The project assesses problem-solving approaches and policy platforms of civil society groups within the global justice movement and implications for Australian policy development and practice. The project offers alternative strategies to anticipate and address problems of globalization, such as climate change, financial volatility, migratory pressures and cultural conflict. Key findings will be made available to Australia's policy-making sector in targeted and accessible formats. The project will enhance Australia's capacity to interpret and engage with the forces of globalization shaping our region and the world.Read moreRead less
Breaking the cycle: the role of housing and support in resolving chronic homelessness. The Australian Government aims to reduce homelessness by half by 2020 and to offer supported accommodation to all rough sleepers by 2020. Chronically homeless people are often part of an impoverished underclass, largely excluded from the labour force and other mainstream institutions. This research will lead to improvements in service delivery and program designs and will link them to the wider areas of housi ....Breaking the cycle: the role of housing and support in resolving chronic homelessness. The Australian Government aims to reduce homelessness by half by 2020 and to offer supported accommodation to all rough sleepers by 2020. Chronically homeless people are often part of an impoverished underclass, largely excluded from the labour force and other mainstream institutions. This research will lead to improvements in service delivery and program designs and will link them to the wider areas of housing policy and social inclusion. The findings will directly contribute to the National Research Priority, promoting and maintaining good health and the priority goal strengthening Australia's social and economic fabric.Read moreRead less
The role of the internet in building social capital amongst homosexually active men: virtual communities in HIV prevention. Social capital comprises features of social organisation such as civic participation, norms of reciprocity and trust in others that facilitate cooperation for mutual benefit, including health and wellbeing. The proposed research focuses on the role of the internet in producing the networks that engender social inclusion and community connectedness. There is scepticism about ....The role of the internet in building social capital amongst homosexually active men: virtual communities in HIV prevention. Social capital comprises features of social organisation such as civic participation, norms of reciprocity and trust in others that facilitate cooperation for mutual benefit, including health and wellbeing. The proposed research focuses on the role of the internet in producing the networks that engender social inclusion and community connectedness. There is scepticism about whether the 'virtual community' of the Internet can build social capital. The study will explore the potential benefits as well as harms to those homosexually active men who use the internet to access health information, meet sexual partners and build friendships that affirm gay identity and community inclusion.Read moreRead less
Agency and Change in Institutionalised Organisations: The role of volunteers as institutional agents in the non-profit sector. This project intends to test recent developments in neoinstitutional organisational theory. The theoretical model developed is designed to address two questions bedvilling the genre: the role of human agency in institutional processes, and understanding institutional change. These questions are addressed in two ways: first, it takes voluntarism as an example of agency ....Agency and Change in Institutionalised Organisations: The role of volunteers as institutional agents in the non-profit sector. This project intends to test recent developments in neoinstitutional organisational theory. The theoretical model developed is designed to address two questions bedvilling the genre: the role of human agency in institutional processes, and understanding institutional change. These questions are addressed in two ways: first, it takes voluntarism as an example of agency in action; and second, it is located in the non-profit sector, an organisational field undergoing significant change. The project employs a micro-sociological methodological orientation rarely used in neoinstitutional research; that of non-participant observation and conversation analysis.Read moreRead less
Challenging the neoliberal critique of deficit spending and public debt. This project aims to analyse the rhetoric of balanced budgets by examining its intellectual and political history and revisiting counterarguments. Expected outcomes from the project will include insights into the development of rhetoric based on analysis of archival, textual and interview-based data . Findings from the project will be published in online fora with wide readership in national and international policy circle ....Challenging the neoliberal critique of deficit spending and public debt. This project aims to analyse the rhetoric of balanced budgets by examining its intellectual and political history and revisiting counterarguments. Expected outcomes from the project will include insights into the development of rhetoric based on analysis of archival, textual and interview-based data . Findings from the project will be published in online fora with wide readership in national and international policy circles. The project has the capacity to provide insights into and benefits for policy discourse on government deficit-spending and public debt.Read moreRead less